Summary
We have had a delightful journey from Vera Cruz, excepting always the frightful roughness of the roads. I believe, since the days of the Spanish dominion, they have never been repaired or touched. General Scott's artillery could have done them no good; but there they remain unmended. Formerly, it is said, this road was the finest in the world. No doubt the staudard was not very high in those days: Macadamization had not seen the light, and the French pavé had. But from the very ruins of the road you can form an idea of the former ex cellence of it. The loose stones lying about, over which you bound with such excruciating jolts, were originally part of a fine pavement, which every now and then, indeed, for a very short distance, you roll over, and which has withstood ruin, rain, revolutions, and that old gentleman with the sharp scythe, who, though supposed to fly, continues to leave very deep footmarks wherever he treads–and where does he not?
If the Mexicans, instead of manufacturing their three hundred revolutions since their independence, had spent the time and money devoted to these topsy-turvy useless pursuits, and busied themselves in improving their internal communications, developing the natural resources of their magnificent country, and advancing the education of the people–what might Mexico be? What might it not be at this moment?
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- Travels in the United States, etc. during 1849 and 1850 , pp. 21 - 48Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2009